A death row inmate convicted in the strangulation murder of his Tampa girlfriend's teen daughter more than 25 years ago is scheduled to be executed this month, Gov. Charlie Crist said in a letter signed Thursday. Wayne Tompkins, 51, is set to die Oct. 28. Two previous governors had signed Tompkins' death warrant — Bob Martinez in 1989 and Jeb Bush in 2001 — but the execution was delayed through several appeals. The body of 15-year-old Lisa DeCarr was found June 5, 1984, more than a year after her mother, Barbara DeCarr, reported her missing. Michael Benito, the original prosecutor who is now in private practice, said Thursday he didn't understand why the execution had been delayed for so long. "He sat on death row for 23 years. It's mind-boggling to me that they can take that long to execute someone who killed a 15-year-old girl," he said.

Husband charged in 1990s slaying

After Barbara Mongee disappeared in 1993, her husband, Reuben, told people she had died in a car accident or of carbon monoxide poisoning, deputies say. But last year her body turned up with a gunshot wound, and on Thursday detectives charged the husband with murder. Reuben Mongee, 73, of 5530 Briny Breeze Drive, Dover, was charged with second-degree murder with a firearm. Barbara Mongee was last seen Oct. 15, 1993, when she left work for a one-week vacation. Construction workers found her remains Sept. 24, 2007, at Parsons Avenue and Windfield Lane in Seffner.

Woman charged in hospital thefts

Police have arrested one woman and are searching for another they said stole checkbooks and credit cards from patients and a visitor at Memorial Hospital. Monique Little, 45, of 4401 Webster St. was charged with fraudulent use of a credit card and third-degree grand theft after she was caught on tape shopping with the stolen cards, according to Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis. Little is not an employee of the hospital. Two women who were patients at the South Tampa hospital this month discovered their credit cards and checkbooks missing, Davis said. Another woman visiting friends had her wallet disappear.

3 men accused of stealing sneakers

Detectives on Wednesday nabbed three men they say stole 18 pairs of Nike sneakers from A&R Impressions/Gycel Ware, a clothing store at 1502 E Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Two officers taking a break from a prostitution sting in the area saw one man running across King Boulevard, carrying bags. Then they saw another riding a bike, pulling a shopping cart full of shoes. A third man ran off, but officers eventually caught up with him. Herman Williams, 24, Emmanuel Watts, 30, and Geroldme Bethel, 29, are each charged with burglary of an occupied structure and grand theft. Williams, who police say was the runner, faces an additional count of opposing or obstructing an officer without violence.